Education: Christ Church, Oxford U, Bachelor of Arts / Science
Christ Church, Oxford U, Master of Arts
Diamonds may be forever, but Nicky Oppenheimer's De Beers diamond empire is constantly changing. Over the past few years the firm has hived off a piece of its South African operation, welcomed its first black executive and settled a long-standing price-fixing class suit that prevented it from opening offices in the U.S. In 2006 Nicky sold off a third of his family's interest in global mining giant Anglo American, founded in 1917 by grandfather Ernest, to Chinese billionaire Larry Yung. On behalf of De Beers, Oppenheimer courted Russian President Vladimir Putin in fall of 2006; two months later De Beers and Russia's state-owned Alrosa diamond mining firm signed a joint prospecting deal. De Beers sold $400 million worth of Alrosa diamonds in 2007.